


Never Close Enough to See

by AfterNineAtTheOasis



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Roman and Logan are definitely cafe boyfriends, Soulmates, the LAMP is more pre/eventual, unless I end up writing a sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28323180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AfterNineAtTheOasis/pseuds/AfterNineAtTheOasis
Summary: Roman didn't like mirrors. Everyone knew that your reflection was what your soulmate looked like, but he simply refused to look into them. The last time he had seen his soulmate was when he was four years old. And whoever it was, he hated them.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 4
Kudos: 81
Collections: Sanders Sides 2020 Gift Exchange





	Never Close Enough to See

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my fic for @peppermintsticks on tumblr, as part of the Sanders Sides 2020 Gift Exchange! I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy!

Roman didn't like mirrors. Everyone knew that your reflection was what your soulmate looked like, but he simply refused to look into them. The last time he had seen his soulmate was when he was four years old. And whoever it was, he hated them.

All his life he'd been constantly compared to other people, as if he were a failing reflection. Roman looked, and all he saw was everything he wasn't. So he never looked into mirrors. He avoided going outside after it had rained, though in puddles images were less clear. He even stopped short of completely cleaning anything metal so it wouldn't reflect.

But he could always be at ease around Logan. Logan was his best friend, and he always kept mirrors away from Roman. Helped him spot anything that might show a reflection, especially after a mere glance at a window showed a distorted face that wasn't Roman's own triggered a downward spiral. He was Roman's only friend (other than his casual friend Janus, but they were in different grades, so never saw much of each other) – everyone else thought he was too much maintenance.

So one day, when the two 16-year-olds were doing homework, Roman was casually complaining about mirrors. As you do. Logan usually just hummed in response to what he said, or offered comfort.

“They expect me to care about finding my soulmate so much, and I just. . . don't,” Roman was saying. “I'm so sick of it. I hate my soulmate! And they don't understand that,” he finished bitterly. Logan had paused in his biology work, staring at the pencil in his hand. Roman hesitated.

“Logan?” he asked. The other boy jerked his head up to look at him, and nodded slightly.

“It does seem bothersome,” said his friend. Roman quirked an eyebrow and smiled.

“I was asking if you were good,” Roman clarified. “You were staring off into space for a minute there, Specs.” Logan stared at him for a moment, then responded only with a neutral “Oh” and turned back to his biology work. Slightly uncomfortable now, Roman looked down at his math assignment. He sighed quietly, then tried to put his friend's odd behavior out of his mind so he could focus on the equations. But no matter how hard he tried, he was still unsettled when Logan announced that he needed to get home, quickly packed up, and left.

–

Logan stared silently into the mirror. For once, the soulmate looking back at him was not Roman. It was rare that he would see one of the other faces, but whenever he did he almost never left. He needed to know who they were, but he had never once seen either of them in real life. Roman's was the only face that he ever recognized. The person he saw now was pale, with dark hair that was most likely black. He'd only seen them three times before – usually it was the kind-eyed blonde.

He shifted his weight, trying to relieve some of the pressure of 20 minutes hunched over the bathroom sink, staring at a boy who definitely wasn't Logan himself. Apparently, once all matching soulmates were aware they were soulmates and reciprocated the feelings (romantic or platonic) it was optional to see another face in any undisturbed reflective surface. But most people had sketches done each year, so they had an idea of what they looked like before meeting their soulmate.

The rest had taken Logan quite a bit of research. Why was he seeing multiple faces? Well, after hours of digging, he finally found his answer: polyamory. Whenever there were multiple partners in a soulmate relationship, platonic or romantic, each person was shown the soulmate physically closest to them.

Which meant that for some reason, very occasionally, one of Logan's other two soulmates was closer to him than Roman. Which was odd, since Roman only lived three streets away. Ever since they first started appearing, he had been contemplating what might cause this. Perhaps they rarely took walks in this direction? Or maybe it was a commute to a job or school. But that didn't explain the fact that Logan had been standing here, staring at the mirror, for nearly half an hour now.

Logan was startled out of his thoughts by movement. Or, what appeared to be movement. The face was morphing and blurring. His arms dropped from the sink, but he was transfixed by the sight. Then, suddenly, it was over, and Roman's face was staring back at him. Logan gaped at it. That was the first time he'd ever been looking when it changed back to familiar, auburn-haired Roman.

Logan had to tell him.

–

“Specs? Are you nervous about something?”

Logan answered immediately, which was strange for him – usually he took time to think through what he was going to say.

“Roman, I have something to tell you.” He took a deep breath, and Roman just watched him, curious. Then the wind was knocked out of his chest by Logan's next words.

“We're soulmates.”

Roman watched as Logan slowly shrunk more and more in his seat, but he couldn't respond. He couldn't think. How was he supposed to address this? For so long, he had– _I said I hated my soulmate_ , thought Roman hysterically. Finally, he found his voice.

“How could you tell me?” he whispered. Logan looked away. “I-I said I hated you.”

“You said you hate your soulmate. You didn't know,” Logan answered evenly. Immediately, Roman shook his head.

“I hated the concept, Logan,” he said earnestly. “That's all, I promise.” _I could never hate you_.

Logan glanced at him, but he looked back to his homework, clearly staring right through it as he pretended to write something down. After a few moments, he sighed and set his pencil down. Without looking at Roman, he asked, “So what happens now?”

Roman hesitated. To be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure. But he had an idea.

“Want to go out with me?”

–

“Well, this should work,” Roman said nervously. Logan looked at him. His best friend- soulmate? His soulmate's eyes were flicking back and forth around the cozy cafe they had chosen on a whim for their date. It was called [pun name here], and it looked fairly nice. Nonetheless, this was still the most stressful situation Logan had ever been in.

“So,” Roman continued as they weaved around a few tables. “What do you want?” Logan started.

“I can order my own coffee, Roman, it's fine,” he answered. Roman immediately looked away.

“Yeah, I know that. I just thought it was a thing people do. On dates,” Roman added.

“Oh.”

Roman hurriedly filled the silence Logan's short answer had left, waving his hands slightly.

“No, no, you can order for yourself if you wish,” he said. Logan could feel a smile twitching at his lips at Roman's response.

“I will have anything that is iced with almond milk, and a blueberry scone. Thank you, Roman.”

Roman nodded awkwardly and began to back away from Logan slightly, towards the counter.

“I–” Roman bumped into a table, glanced behind him, and quickly side stepped. “I will go get that then. Find us a table, Specs?”

It almost seemed like reflex when Roman's most common nickname for Logan came back. Again, Logan found himself starting to smile. Roman must have been relaxing – Logan was still taut as a bowstring.

Nodding, Logan went to do as he was asked, lost in thought, and with a slight blush tinting his cheeks. But no one in this little cafe, on a cold, rainy day, was going to point it out.

–

It took a few minutes, but they were talking now. Once they relaxed more, it was easy to slip back into the effortless conversation that was a staple of their friendship. And now, perhaps, romance. They were debating plays and drinking coffee (Logan hadn't touched his scone, but it was half gone, and he was convinced Roman was picking off of it whenever Logan wasn't looking), and if anything, it felt like their personalities slotted together even better than before.

“But Les Mis has a compelling, tragic story line!” Logan exclaimed. Roman scoffed and took a sip of his coffee before responding.

“It gets boring, Logan,” he said. “I don't watch musicals to sit through a, albeit well sung, three hour show that feels like four! I have things to do.”

Now it was Logan's turn to scoff.

“You don't have anything to do, I'm your only friend.”

As soon as it was out of his mouth, Logan was immediately uncomfortable. And from the way Roman choked on the bite of Logan's scone he was stealing – he knew it! –, so was he. They'd joked about Roman's lack of friends before, but that was before Roman was aware they were soulmates. _Now, it only serves to remind us of Roman's previous hatred of his soulmate,_ Logan's brain put in helpfully.

“Keyword previous, Specs,” said Roman quietly. Logan stared at him for a moment, then with the feeling of embarrassment creeping up his face, realized he had stated the thought out loud. He cleared his throat.

“Of course, Roman. I am aware.”

Silently, Roman reached across the table to squeeze Logan's hand. Before he could pull away, Logan took a deep breath and squeezed back. And when when Roman smiled at him, he couldn't help but smile as well.

–

Logan sighed, clearly frustrated, but there was a note of fondness in his voice when he spoke.

“Please, Roman, is going back to the cafe we went on our first date at really necessary?” Roman turned to his boyfriend, and placed a hand on his chest in mock offense.

“For our six month anniversary? Of course!” he answered. Logan shot him a flat look, which was impressive, seeing as Roman as currently dragging him down the sidewalk towards the aforementioned cafe. Roman returned the look with a bright smile, and he could see Logan tensing to stop his mouth from mirroring it.

“ _Six month anniversary_ , Specs,” Roman repeated. “Surely you can deal with a shady cafe for a little while?”

“Well, I don't particularly like to reside anywhere 'shady', as you put it,” replied his boyfriend. Logan had extracted himself from Roman's grip to make air quotations around the word 'shady', but he held out his arm again, allowing Roman to drag him along.

“Nonetheless!” Roman declared. “That is where we're headed – besides, we've only been three times, and every time it was raining. I think we deserve to see how it holds up in the sunlight, don't you?” Logan sighed, this time sounding defeated, and let go of any resistance he was still holding Grinning, Roman continued to pull his arm in full force.

“Roman, dear,” Logan said conversationally as they walked. Roman hummed so Logan would know he was listening. “Do you remember that couple that everyone always complained about?”

Roman frowned thoughtfully.

“The ones in the grade above us?” He clarified, glancing at Logan. His boyfriend nodded, and Roman mirrored the action.

“Well,” Logan continued. “I get the impression that if we were more public about our relationship, _we_ would be that couple.”

Roman laughed and turned to look at Logan, walking almost completely backwards. Logan was smiling, obviously trying (and failing) to keep a straight face. Logan cocked an eyebrow, seemingly asking Roman to challenge his assumption, but Roman just shook his head, still laughing.

“No, Specs, I don't believe you're wrong about that,” he responded. He turned back around before he ran into someone or tripped over the curb, letting go of Logan's arm as he did so, and they continued walking in silence for a few moments.

“I wonder what their names were,” Roman mused. Logan was next to him now, instead of behind him, and shot him a questioning look. Roman hurried to explain.

“That couple, I mean. The one everyone always complained about for being so sappy and in love and all that jazz.”

Understanding swept over Logan's face, before clearing into a frown of concentration.   
“Virgil and Patton, if I remember correctly,” he said after a few seconds. Roman nodded, recognizing the names a little. He was sure he'd heard them at some point, but he would probably forget in another few days anyways.

“That sounds about right. What do you suppose they're doing now?” he added. Logan shrugged, and Roman only pondered it for several seconds. By then, they had come to the cafe door, and all thoughts that didn't concern Logan or the meal cheerfully vanished from his mind.

–

Logan carefully arranged their order on the table. One blueberry scone, which he wouldn't end up eating more than half of if Roman's stealing habits hadn't changed in the last five minutes, and two coffees. It wasn't much – they always ordered the same thing when they got coffee –, and after just a few seconds finished. He glanced up, looking for Roman, who was grabbing napkins, as he hadn't managed to drink coffee once without spilling it. Instead, his eyes met with one of two teens, probably slightly older than himself.

The one who's gaze he caught was blonde haired, with kind eyes and a soft smile on his face. He gave Logan a little wave, then turned to his companion and started talking. But Logan was still staring. Suddenly, it seemed, Roman was walking up, napkins in hand, and giving Logan a bemused look.

“Seen a ghost?” his boyfriend asked. Logan barely registered what he said, just tugged on his sleeve till he started looking where Logan was. Finally, he managed to speak.

“It's them, Roman,” Logan said breathlessly. “Our. . . other two soulmates.”

Immediately Roman was walking over to them. He had only seen one of them, the dark haired one, in the short time that he had been looking in mirrors, but if anything he wanted to know their identities even more than Logan.

Roman was offering a handshake to the two boys, and Logan belatedly followed him, offering his own hand once he came to them. Roman had been in the middle of introducing Logan as he arrived, so Logan saw no need to say anything yet.

“Well, my name is Patton, and this is Virgil!” the boy – Patton – chirped cheerfully. Virgil, as he was now designated, gave an awkward pair of finger guns (though one was slightly less precise, seeing as that arm was currently linked with Patton's).

“A pleasure to meet you,” Logan managed to say, trying not to sound as if he were choking (they were _that_ couple as well?!). Patton gave him an only slightly confused smile, so Logan assumed he did rather well.

There was silence for a moment, and the couples glanced at each other. Then, they all spoke at once.

“We think you two are our soulmates.”

All four of them stared at each other for a few seconds, then Virgil burst out laughing. Logan, Roman, and Patton joined him after a moment, which hopefully lowered his obvious mortification at having lost it laughing in a public setting.

When they had all calmed themselves, Logan looked at Patton and Virgil, then at his and Roman's table. Barely stopping to consider as an idea popped into his mind, he spoke.

“Would you like to have coffee with us?”

Immediately, he regretted speaking, but Patton brightened even further, if that were possible, and Virgil smiled.

“We'd actually love that,” said Virgil.

Roman stepped aside, gesturing to their table, and the other three gladly followed him.

–

They ended up staying for hours, (Logan wasn't sure how long, but certainly long enough that he was convinced the employees nearly asked them to leave, but in Roman's words, “Couldn't bear to break up such obvious love”) and before the pairs went their separate ways, exchanged phone numbers.

Logan hadn't even realized how much he had been missing. When he mentioned it to Roman, his boyfriend instantly agreed. They had felt whole by themselves, somehow even more whole as friends, and nearly perfect as partners. But now that they had met Patton and Virgil, they were complete. It felt more final this time, so hopefully they wouldn't discover a fifth soulmate in Spain or Russia or some where ridiculously far away. Logan didn't think they would, though. It felt perfect now, completely and utterly whole. They had never been close enough to see each other for who they truly were before, but now they could. And it felt like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

Logan and Roman had their first date on a rainy day, at 5:13 in the evening, at a shady cafe. Logan, Roman, Virgil, and Patton had their first date on a sunshine-filled day, at 1:37 in the afternoon, at a shady cafe.

There was really nothing to complain about.

Both were perfect.


End file.
